PINA

The head of the UN health agency expressed concern on Friday over the COVID-19’s delta variant, which he called “the most transmissible” mutation to date. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) told journalists at a regular briefing that delta has been identified in at least 85 countries and is “spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations”. “As some countries ease...

Over the last month, the Guardian has run a major investigative series examining the extractives industries – mining, logging, fishing and the nascent industry of deep-sea mining – in the Pacific. Among the stories of environmental devastation and social harm are also stories of Pacific communities taking control of their resources and succeeding in resisting unwanted extractive projects. As the...

Fijian 7s team was crowned the PacificAus Sports Oceania 7s champions after remaining undefeated and urging All Black 7s 17-7 in their final match in Townsville. Coach Gareth Baber reshuffled his players during the three-day competition and named a mixture of experience and young players for their final match against New Zealand. Fiji started the match with a bang, outpacing their...

A rusty Samoa suffered a setback at the start of their preparations for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Tonga when they were trounced 35-10 by the Maori All Blacks on Saturday in a blustery, wet Wellington. It was Samoa's first international since the 2019 World Cup while most of the New Zealand Maori were battle-hardened from playing in the...

The total budget summary of $300,049,742, (US$212,051,709) just over $11 million (US$7.7 million) more than the original tabled Budget, was passed in the Cook Islands Parliament on Thursday before it was adjourned sine die. The additional amount is for government agencies which were appropriated over $165 million (US$116 million), exactly $11 million (US$7.7 million) more for those agencies than when...

The new Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Henry Puna said he will continue to champion for unity in the region, amid the leadership row that prompted Micronesian nations, including Palau to quit the Forum. Puna held his first virtual press conference with Pacific journalists last week said the Pacific region is “a family” that will continue to work...

A Chinese envoy has urged Japan to reverse its decision to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear accident into the sea. Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, exercised China's right to reply to the Japanese representative at 31st Meeting of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. “Just now the Japanese...

Australia urged Samoa's political parties on Saturday to work together to form a government after a top court in the Pacific nation dealt a blow to a prime minister who has refused to accept an election defeat by saying there was no legal reason to delay convening Parliament. The islands' politics descended into chaos after Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoa's prime...

Fiji recorded 262 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday with 43 cases from six new areas of interest. Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services, Dr James Fong said five cases are known contacts of cases from the Nawakalevu containment zone that have been undergoing 14-day quarantine in quarantine facilities in Nadi. He said three are contacts from within the existing Korovou...

A career epidemiology field officer for U.S affiliated Pacific Islands with U.S Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr W Thane Hancock said Palau is one of the first countries to have beaten COVID. “Palau has done an amazing job vaccinating their community and, in my opinion, have ended the COVID threat to their community. One of the first...